Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


KNOWN HAD I (SONG) by THOMAS HARDY

Poet Analysis

First Line: KNOWN HAD I WHAT I KNEW NOT
Last Line: HAVE KNOWN WHAT I KNOW NOW.
Subject(s): KNOWLEDGE;

KNOWN had I what I knew not
When we met eye to eye,
That thenceforth I should view not
Again beneath the sky
So truefooted a farer
As you who faced me then,
My path had been a rarer
Than it figures among men!

I would have trod beside you
To guard your feet all day,
And borne at night to guide you
A lantern on your way:
Would not have left you lonely
With wringing doubt, to cow
Old hope, if I could only
Have known what I know now.



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